Death of the Interactive Whiteboard
Photo by Steve Keys (cc)
Prediction: Interactive whiteboards will be obsolete in two years.
Why? Because you can roll your own for less than 500 euro. Moreover this version will be portable and you can face the class when you write.
How?
- Buy a usb tablet such as a wacom or wait for Aldi’s graphic tablet offer to come around. Should cost between 50-100 euro.
- To go with this treat yourself to an Asus Eee pc (only 330 euro !). Connect your tablet pad to your laptop, your laptop to your projector and hey presto.
The caveats are that the Asus Eee PC only comes with linux installed. You can install XP if you don’t mid rolling up your sleeves. With windows you will have access to things like using Microsoft OneNote with Camtasia Studiowhich opens up a lot more possibility for your home-brewed interactive whiteboard.
Although this solution is not perfect it shows the shocking potential obsolescence of the technology you may have in your classroom. (Interactive whiteboards costs thousands.) What is the lesson from this? The lesson is that the cost, through depreciation, of educational technology is massive. To justify that cost you have to use it.
Fascinating post Eamon. I’ve been sceptical for a long time about the benefits of PCs in the classroom, worried that tech would distract too much from the actually content but having seen an interesting episode of An Tuath Nua on TG4 lately I’d changed my mind somewhat. What convinced me was the headmaster’s insistence that the technology is a means to an end. Take a look when you get a chance, it’s online at -
http://tg4.ie/Webt/webt.htm
Go to ‘Clar Eile - Cartlann’ and choose An Tuath Nua from 22/2/08. About 19 minutes in is a feature on the Gael Scoil in Newcastlewest which is probably the most advanced primary school in the country. Watching the kids drawn on the whiteboards with the fingers is quite amazing.
Thanks James. Look forward to looking at that clip. I saw a technology evangelist give an interactive whiteboard demo in DCU last year and he was brilliant but there is nothing better than kids using technology to really blow you away
[...] James says, he was sceptical first but “watching the kids drawn on the whiteboards with the fingers is [...]
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